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I apologize for jumping in the middle of this post. I just purchased BG 1 & 2 from GOG. I've played all games when they came out originally (through ToB). I've been reading a bunch on the site for the past hour and want to know the best way to install BGT. I'm confused which version is "current" (?v9.0?) and what the essential downloads and of course installation order is.

Sorry for the n00b question, if someone can point me, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm getting a bit confused with all of the differing posts.

Hickory: First, and foremost, you MUST have a completely clean installation of BG1 (and that means no fix packs either) before you install BGT. The current version of BGT is v1.18. You must extract the archive into your BG2 main folder -- do not install BG1/2 into Program Files! Once you have extracted the archive, decide which mods you want -- there is no such thing as 'essential downloads', only those which you prefer. If you decide to install Ascension, Turnabout and/or the BG2 fix pack, install those BEFORE BGT, and everything else afterwards. Should you wish to install the widescreen mod (NOT recommended for BGT), install it last.

I thought about playing BG 1 and 2 but don't know if I should get the Enhanced Edition(s) on Steam or merge the two games from GoG. So ... dunno. Anyone in the mood to help me out a bit here? Do I get that right that merging the two GoG-Games gives me one big game in which I will just play the same character from the beginning to the end instead of having to create a new character and start all over again in BG 2? o_O Or is the map and the number of locations in the merged GoG-Version bigger than the ones I get with buying the Enhanced Edition(s)?

Nyeah. Would be nice if someone could help me out a bit here. Thanks ^^

I thought about playing BG 1 and 2 but don't know if I should get the Enhanced Edition(s) on Steam or merge the two games from GoG. So ... dunno. Anyone in the mood to help me out a bit here? Do I get that right that merging the two GoG-Games gives me one big game in which I will just play the same character from the beginning to the end instead of having to create a new character and start all over again in BG 2? o_O Or is the map and the number of locations in the merged GoG-Version bigger than the ones I get with buying the Enhanced Edition(s)?

Nyeah. Would be nice if someone could help me out a bit here. Thanks ^^

My advice would be to get the two games from GOG, but before you play them in BGT (merging, as you put it), play them at least once vanilla style. That is the only way you will experience Baldur's Gate 1 as the designers intended. Be aware that playing the enhanced versions is a totally different experience than the originals; they have been arbitrarily changed in far too many ways, and both are still chock full of bugs.

If you decide that you do want to dive straight into 'merging', then you need to install BG1 and BG2, and do NOT patch, mod or otherwise alter the vanilla BG1 in any way. This is extremely important for the installation of BGT. You must also be very careful of installation order for BG2. Do not install any mods except for Ascension, Turnabout and BG2 Fixpack before BGT. So install in this order:

Now to answer your other query: BGT's purpose is twofold. One is to allow you to play BG1 in the BG2 game engine -- be aware that this makes the game easier, and different than vanilla BG1 -- and two it seemlessly transitions the game from the end of BG1 into the start of BG2, taking your character and his/her stats, plus all of the NPCs who also appear in BG2 along with their BG1 stats. No starting again; no importing; everything is done as though the game just continues. The maps in each game are just the same. Not bigger, just different.

Hickory: BGT's purpose is twofold. One is to allow you to play BG1 in the BG2 game engine -- be aware that this makes the game easier, and different than vanilla BG1 -- and two it seemlessly transitions the game from the end of BG1 into the start of BG2.

Oh okay, then I did get that right. For a second I thought it was just wishful thinking with the "merging". But okay, thanks!

I too am interested in merging BG1 w/ BG2. I tried following the steps outlined here: gog (dot) com/news/enhance_the_gameplay_in_your_edition_of_baldurs_gate_from_gogcom however as it turns out, the fix pack is a Power PC program, which doesn't work on Intel MacBooks or OSX so I'm at a loss as how to do this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

famouswolfe: I too am interested in merging BG1 w/ BG2. I tried following the steps outlined here: gog (dot) com/news/enhance_the_gameplay_in_your_edition_of_baldurs_gate_from_gogcom however as it turns out, the fix pack is a Power PC program, which doesn't work on Intel MacBooks or OSX so I'm at a loss as how to do this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

famouswolfe: I too am interested in merging BG1 w/ BG2. I tried following the steps outlined here: gog (dot) com/news/enhance_the_gameplay_in_your_edition_of_baldurs_gate_from_gogcom however as it turns out, the fix pack is a Power PC program, which doesn't work on Intel MacBooks or OSX so I'm at a loss as how to do this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Step 1. Do a clean, full installation of Baldur's Gate 1 as you normally would. Launch the game like normal, then exit out from the main menu.

Step 2. In Finder, navigate to your Applications folder, then right click on Baldur's Gate 1 and click "Show Package Contents." You'll see a file named "Wineskin," open it. Click on "Install Software." Point the installer to setup_baldurs_gate2.exe or whatever it's called (should be in your Downloads folder inside a file called Baldurs Gate 2 Complete). Note: This is the reason I had you download the Windows installer, because it's super easy to install via Wineskin. Once Baldur's Gate 2 has installed, you'll want to run the game and go through the setup process. You can accomplish that by setting Wineskin to run BGConfig.exe (right click BG1, show package contents, open Wineskin, click on Advanced, then under Windows EXE click "Browse" and point it to C:/GOG Games/Baldur's Gate 2/BGConfig.exe), then click "Test Run" at the bottom. Configure BG2 to your heart's content. Launch the game (point Wineskin launcher to run BGMain.exe in your BG2 file), then exit from the main menu.

Step 3. At this point you should be able to launch either game (BG1 or BG2) just by pointing Wineskin to the appropriate exe file. If so, great. If not, please make sure you installed the games the way I've instructed you to. Next, you're going to take the Baldur's Gate Trilogy mod (BGT118 or Weidu 1.18 whatever it's called) and extract it. Now, take the 3 files it extracted and Copy/Paste those inside your BG2 folder (once again, in Applications right click on BG1 -> show package content -> C:/GOG Games/Baldur's Gate 2).

Step 4. Navigate to C:/Windows/Command (you should still be inside your BG1 app folder anyways). You'll see a file called "Start.exe" (without quotes). Copy it (command-key + C or at the top of your screen click on Edit -> Copy) and paste the file in C:/GOG Games/Baldur's Gate 2 (command-key + V or Edit -> Paste).

Step 5. Go back to the BG1 Wineskin program (open it, click on Advanced). Point the exe launcher to the "start.exe" file you just pasted in your BG2 file (make sure the box is checked that says "use Start.exe"), and launch it by clicking "Test Run." Wineskin will open up a command prompt showing something like C:/GOG Games/Baldur's Gate 2 > Type setup-bgt.exe and hit enter, this will begin the patching process. Follow the onscreen instructions (just asks a few simple mostly Y or N questions) and let it do it's thing. Get yourself a sammich or something as this takes a few minutes.

Step 6. In the Wineskin wrapper, point the EXE launcher to BGMain.exe found in your BG2 folder (should be found in C:/GOG Games/Baldur's Gate 2/BGMain.exe). VOILA!! You're golden!! Do note that this will basically allow you to play from the start of BG1 to the conclusion of BG2 using the graphically-superior BG2 engine. There's even a scripted event separating the two games so you'll know when you're moving into BG2. Have fun!!

Alright guys, I'm having an issue and I can't figure out how to fix it.

I installed all the mods except the optional one (other than the widescreen mod) and now the intro videos and all the dialog boxes are small and stuck on the left side of the screen. I've done this many times and never had this issue before.

dkclemons1: Alright guys, I'm having an issue and I can't figure out how to fix it.

I installed all the mods except the optional one (other than the widescreen mod) and now the intro videos and all the dialog boxes are small and stuck on the left side of the screen. I've done this many times and never had this issue before.

Any help?

Sorry for the late reply. Something that helps me is to hit Command-key + Return, this will make the game go small screen. Command-key + Return again to make it full screen. That might help, have you tried it?

dkclemons1: Alright guys, I'm having an issue and I can't figure out how to fix it.

I installed all the mods except the optional one (other than the widescreen mod) and now the intro videos and all the dialog boxes are small and stuck on the left side of the screen. I've done this many times and never had this issue before.

Any help?

famouswolfe: Sorry for the late reply. Something that helps me is to hit Command-key + Return, this will make the game go small screen. Command-key + Return again to make it full screen. That might help, have you tried it?

It's cool, man. I did that and now it's too large. The character avatars are off the screen. Should I just try a fresh install?

famouswolfe: Sorry for the late reply. Something that helps me is to hit Command-key + Return, this will make the game go small screen. Command-key + Return again to make it full screen. That might help, have you tried it?

dkclemons1: It's cool, man. I did that and now it's too large. The character avatars are off the screen. Should I just try a fresh install?

That's super strange, have you made sure that the game's resolution is appropriately set in the Config program? Command-key + Return always fixes the stretching and the issues. I would try hitting Command-key + Return a couple times, see if that doesn't fix the problem. Other than that, maybe a fresh install might help :-P

famouswolfe: Sorry for the late reply. Something that helps me is to hit Command-key + Return, this will make the game go small screen. Command-key + Return again to make it full screen. That might help, have you tried it?

dkclemons1: It's cool, man. I did that and now it's too large. The character avatars are off the screen. Should I just try a fresh install?

A thought just occurred to me, what resolution are you running in your background? A lot of the time, running a game while you have the desktop resolution set to Retina level will cause havoc in your games. Have you tried lowering it down to 1920x1080 (in other words, 1080P)?